Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) infection-related diseases are a global health problem due to the high infection rates of the general population. Clinical manifestations include small, painful, vesicles affecting the skin, mouth, lips, eyes, or genitalia, and systemic symptoms such as fever and malaise.
HSV persists in sensory and autonomic neural ganglions for the life of the host and periodically reactivates. Clinical recurrences are triggered by several stimuli, such as stress, menstrual periods, fever or illness, sun exposure or sunburn.
The clinical course of HSV infection is strongly influenced by the immune status of the host with severe and life-threatening infections occurring in newborns and immune-compromised patients.
Commonly, antiviral agents targeting the viral DNA such as acyclovir, are used for the management of HSV infections. These drugs can give rise to resistant virus mutants unresponsive to treatment, do not eradicate latent virus or prevent transmission of the infection.
The attempts to develop a prophylactic vaccine have so far failed shedding light on the complexities of the immune response to HSV.
Antibody-based therapies for HSV infections are of key interest due to the fact that the antibody response is crucial for preventing many viral infections and can also contribute to the resolution of different viral infections. Upon viral infection, antibodies are produced against many epitopes on multiple virus proteins. A subset of these antibodies can block virus infection by a process called neutralization. It is increasingly felt the need for novel strategies and options in fighting HSV infections. Specific human monoclonal antibodies with HSV neutralizing activity may provide novel, safe and effective agents for HSV prophylaxis or treatment.